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Masculinities and femininities are closely interconnected with men and women farmers' everyday lives; hence critical reflection on these interconnections should be central in gender training in agriculture. While a focus on men and masculinities is crucial for sustainable transformation of deep-rooted gender norms and practices that limit the attainment of gender equality, there are insufficient empirically tested pedagogical models for this purpose. We share a case study, the Gender Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation (GREAT) model, which incorporates masculinities in a feminist pedagogy. We use external monitoring, evaluation, and learning data for two case study courses that integrate gender in plant breeding, seed systems, and agronomy to demonstrate the efficacy of integrating the concept of masculinity and reflections on male farmers' expectations, behaviors, and practices within a feminist approach to gender training. We conclude that feminist pedagogical practices offer insights into how gender training can integrate a masculinities perspective to move beyond divisive and narrow gender polarities towards addressing masculine norms that often hinder the attainment of gender transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possibilities for the advancement of gender equality within Ghana remain limited by the dominance of patriarchal understandings of gender relations, which include the normalization of men’s use of violence against women. Drawing on interviews with men and women in northwestern Ghana, the findings highlight the ways in which, despite the intersecting inequalities which make the achievement of gender equality apparently difficult, articulations of gender equality remain possible. Men and women as gendered categories understand their positions in the family in terms of performing distinct roles and responsibilities which are not necessarily hierarchal, but complementary. The findings demonstrate that women are often accorded respect because they are considered ‘yir-miere’ (translated as backbone of the family) and ‘yir-maale’ (the peace-maker of the house). It is important to recognize how these culturally celebrated titles and statuses often get lost in mainstream scholarship in the West. The study argues that the cultural reverence associated with these statues needs to be recognized as forms of agency and power for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe summer of 2014 was a flashpoint of conflict between popular misogyny and popular feminism. While #GamerGate harassment campaigns raged across Reddit and Twitter, the experience of discrimination took on a different character within Wikipedia. One year prior to #GamerGate, Wikipedian women came together to address systemic gender bias on the encyclopedia and created the Gender Gap Task Force (GGTF). Following July 2014, the GGTF WikiProject saw intense contestation between editors who wrestled with the question of how to navigate the incommensurability between misogyny and feminism while creating encyclopedic knowledge. This article demonstrates the complexity of the GGTF’s response by theorizing it through a sociotechnical history of its formation as a counterpublic. Drawing on 443 discussion threads from the GGTFs talk pages, and numerous WikiProject pages, news reports, arbitration cases reports, and user pages, I argue that the GGTF played a significant role in making the identity of Wikipedian women legible and legitimate to the broader community. At the same time, the task forces’ activism as a counterpublic was significantly curtailed by trolling and harassment. In detailing this account, this article demonstrates how the design of an online community was exploited to support geek hypermasculinity and mobilized to exclude women from shaping the identity of “the Wikipedian.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What Really Counts? was a sound art installation created in 2019 through a collaboration between a sociologist and a multidisciplinary artist, working with in-depth interviews with young men recorded as part of a British feminist social research project in 1990, exploring sexualities and the threat of HIV/AIDS. In this article, we describe the evolution and staging of the sound art installation project, situating it within interdisciplinary literatures on the use of sociological archives and reanimation of analogue media in a digital age. Working within a fractured tradition of curated sociology, we consider the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration for refreshing sociological analytic practice, revealing the unrealised potential of archived data sets and utilising temporal displacement as a generative analytic strategy for feeling history. We are working with a 30-year time span characterised by a stretching of intergenerational experience in relation to expectations for and mediation of sex/gender. The project attempts to realise the potential for an experimental sociological practice through the staging of open-ended past–present encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though extensive literature exists on Moroccan women in the public sphere, simultaneously less research explores the ways in which men 'do domesticity'. This paper will examine the ways urban Moroccan middle-class men interact within the private spheres of life, why they do so and what this means for gendered subjectivities in Morocco. For some urban middle-class Moroccan men, being a good father means taking an active role in his children's lives and taking care of them with the help of his wife. This is not true for all urban middle-class men, but most said that they were more willing to help with cooking, cleaning and childcare than their father had been: showing a generational shift. Additionally, most participants said that doing housework does not lower the level of a man's masculinity. Despite this, every Moroccan woman that I talked to does most reproductive labour around the house. This paper explores the dynamic nature of Moroccan masculinity across the life cycle: from early marriage, to being a father and being retired. This generational shift is happening due to the confluence of structural changes in education, socioeconomic class and occupation in addition to individuals' desire to be active fathers and husbands. I place urban Moroccan middle-class masculinities in context with Moroccan femininities and highlight both male and female voices. These findings are based on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Rabat, Morocco including 53 semi-structured interviews and extensive participant observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Senegal, where pregnancy is “women’s business,” men’s roles in prenatal and postpartum care are mediated by gendered expectations of what expectant fathers are allowed to know and do. Expectant fathers’ roles map onto masculine expectations of the authoritative, sovereign head-of-household. Using the state-authored Handbook of Mother and Child Health, I argue that state surveillance is refracted through preexisting masculine prenatal care roles, and that men willingly articulate themselves to the role of the surveillance state by relying on the Handbook as a guide for how to watch their pregnant partners and make sure they are adhering to its guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing recognition of the need to address the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of men and boys, including a need for more explicit guidance in domestic health policy and plans. This paper reports on a policy analysis, covering five East and Southern African countries, and discusses the extent and ways in which male clinical and non-clinical needs, and their roles in SRH are currently being reflected. It draws attention to the policy discourse, trends, and gaps in including men in the region as clients, partners and change agents to inform a way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important shifts in gender scholarship is the attention now being paid to discourses and practices of masculinity in the Global South. This issue of Men and Masculinities contributes to this growing field in three important ways. First, we foreground scholarship on masculinities in two interconnected, but understudied regions of the world, specifically the Middle East, which is also known as South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), and its neighbor to the east, South Asia. In particular, we demonstrate the ways in which queer identities and communities are being formed across these two regions, connected as they are by historic trade routes, migration pathways, and transregional cultural flows. Second, we point to the vibrant masculinities scholarship that is emerging from these regions. But we focus specifically on non-normative masculinities—or the queer, trans, and other genderqueer masculinities—which have been historically present in these two regions, but which have been much less represented in masculinities literature. Third, we look to identity formation, or the ways in which young cis-gender, trans, and queer men come out in their communities and seek authentic lives of desire, pleasure, and participation. At the same time, we highlight the ever-present precarity within queer communities in the Middle East/SWANA and South Asia, especially given postcolonial nationalist and ethno-nationalist agendas, which promote normative heteropatriarchal masculinities and concomitant homophobia and transphobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epistemological formations of area studies and critical regionality have been instrumental in situating the politics of gender-sexual variance in the Global South. Recent scholarship in India encourages further rescaling of queer and trans studies to account for the mutual entanglements of sexual and caste modernity, rights-based organizing, and metronormativity. Following this work, this article considers the possibilities offered by emphasizing the micro-locality of the urban neighborhood. A reading of two Delhi-based documentary films, Who Can Speak of Men? (2003) and Yeh Freedom Life (2019), the article troubles the idea of a unitary global and national trans subject. Conceptualizing the urban neighborhood as method and mode of reading transmasculinity compels a rethinking of the dichotomous framings of metropolitan queer as elite and transgender as abject. This article provides a trans microcartography wherein the world- and place-making work of transmasculine people enables a reimagining of masculinity in the neoliberalizing Indian "world-class city". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masculinity is a central construct within the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities and has been a component of a substantial amount of research. At the same time, masculinity has been examined from a variety of theoretical perspectives that exist at a range of levels of analysis (e.g., individual differences, immediate environment, societal/environmental influence). The range of theories and the variety of levels of analysis point to the complex nature of masculinity, create barriers to the integration of research findings, and hinder the field's ability to communicate and apply this research to men's lives. In this article, I present the multifaceted masculinity framework (MFMF) as a method of organizing different theoretical approaches and findings while also facilitating application and communication. The MFMF posits that focusing on four established research constructs—criteria, achievement, types, and negotiations—would achieve these goals. The MFMF is presented in full, including examples of integration within each construct, primarily in the realm of providing/breadwinning. Applications and implications of the framework for both researcher and interventionists are provided to help guide future work. Connections with intersectional approaches are addressed throughout the article. Limitations, particularly regarding the boundaries of masculinity, are addressed in some detail. Public Significance Statement: The impact of masculinity on men's lives has important implications for counseling, education, public health, and public policy. However, masculinity has been theorized from a broad range of perspectives leading to difficulties integrating research findings and communicating those findings to the public. In this article, I introduce the multifaceted masculinity framework as an organizing framework that might address these challenges. The multifaceted masculinity framework identifies four empirically supported aspects of masculinity—criteria, achievement, types, and negotiations—that are central to understanding and communicating about masculinity. Integrative examples are provided, as well as directions for future research, synthesis, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masculinities are defined as the repository of cultural and personal meanings attributed to men and boys. According to literature, masculinity ideals have an impact on how men behave. The present study aims at investigating how emerging adults interpret the concept of masculinity and embody and enact it. We were interested in understanding whether trans masculine and cisgender emerging adults conceptualized masculinity differently or similarly and whether they adopted different or similar strategies to act it out. To this aim, we conducted 6 focus groups with trans masculine (N = 16) and cisgender (N = 15) young adults. During the focus groups, participants discussed their concept of masculinity and how they embody and perform masculinity. Results showed that both groups identified social and bodily aspects in their conceptualization of masculinity. Although to varying extents, emerging adults were able to identify the limits of traditional models of masculinity. In both groups, markers for being recognized and affirming masculinity were found at both the bodily and social levels. Some peculiarities of the trans experience involve recognition of the privilege associated with masculinity, medicalized transition in order to achieve certain masculine markers, and a shift in perspective following social recognition of masculine identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the feasibility of a one-week self-compassion intervention delivered exclusively online to competitive men athletes. Information regarding the content of the intervention, including specific modules and protocols, are included in this manuscript. Our findings are encouraging for the feasibility of the intervention, with data trends in hypothesized directions (e.g., self-compassion levels increased at post-intervention). The men athletes generally considered the self-compassion intervention helpful, particularly for easing emotional suffering from sport-specific difficult experiences and to move forward adaptively. Recommendations based on our evaluation of the intervention are also included for those hoping to deliver similar services in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite Iceland's reputation as a gender equal country, men make up about 4% of nurses which is low in comparison with similar countries. To shed light on what determines the choice of nursing and on cooperation at work, interviews with ten female and seven male nurses were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. Drawing on poststructuralist and feminist theories, focusing on power relations and gender in the workplace, the analysis revealed stereotypical gender differences. Choosing nursing was for the female nurses a “natural” channel for their talents, the males were conscious of crossing a line and prepared for stereotyping obstacles. A powerful hierarchy characterized daily work, female nurses described suppressing working situations and lack of support, males ranked themselves higher in respect and opportunities, prioritized their professional boundaries, self-care, and nursing competence, free of gender labels. This difference is an important and self-sustaining part of nurses’ image as powerless, deters young people from nursing education and leads to distance between genders in the workplace. The findings highlight the need to recognize and tackle stereotyping, which maintains inequality, prioritizing diversity instead is a task for educational and health systems, and the debate on gender equality in Iceland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a wider study that sought to explore the constructions of masculinity and professional identities of nine foundation-phase male educators teaching in rural contexts of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Using case study methodology, we interviewed each of the teachers twice. We use Connell’s theory of masculinity alongside Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory to showcase the complex ways in which the local context, together with its racialised and patriarchal history, produces a particular position of ambivalence in how the nine male teachers constitute their masculinities. Some of the male teachers exhibit a caring masculinity that challenges the hegemonic, toxic masculinities of the context, while simultaneously enjoying and claiming male privilege – a form that supports patriarchy and undermines women teachers. We argue that this ambivalent position does little to bring about transformed gender relations in the foundation phase. We therefore call for teacher training programmes to address male privilege and patriarchy to assist men to unlearn their socially assumed position of authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In western countries, men are increasingly using cosmetic surgery. However, despite this trend, there remains a dearth of information on the prevalence, acceptance, and motivations behind men’s use of cosmetic surgery. Furthermore, the potential association between men’s use of cosmetic surgery and in particular male-specific cosmetic surgery procedures such as head hair transplant or penis enlargement and traditional masculinity ideologies (TMI) has not been investigated so far. For this purpose, a cross-sectional anonymous online survey was conducted among 241 self-identifying men aged 18 years or older from the German-speaking part of Europe. Participants responded to questions about cosmetic surgery use and experiences, and completed the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory—Short Form (CMNI-SF) and the Male Role Norms Inventory—Short Form (MRNI-SF) questionnaires to assess conformity with and endorsement of TMI. Of the 241 men investigated, 47 (19.5%) had undergone cosmetic surgery. The most common types of cosmetic surgeries reported were wrinkle treatment, eyelid correction, and head-hair transplant. Penis enlargement procedures were reported by three (6.4%) of the 47 men who had undergone cosmetic surgery. The main reasons for undergoing surgery were to feel better (72.3%) and look better (55.3%), while to increase sexual success (17.0%) and to increase manliness (14.9%) were also reported. Logistic regression models showed that higher conformity to TMI (CMNI-SF) was associated with higher odds of having undergone cosmetic surgery. The results highlight the overall increase in men’s cosmetic surgery use and its specific characteristics. The significant positive association between conformity to TMI and men’s use of cosmetic surgery suggests that men increasingly use cosmetic surgery as a means to assert power, success, dominance, and sexual success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of caring masculinities in Europe, challenging traditional gender norms and advocating for gender justice. It discusses the historical undervaluing of care work primarily attributed to women and the need for new care arrangements in modern societies. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the care infrastructure and the unequal distribution of care work, but it has also presented an opportunity for men to become more involved in caregiving. The article emphasizes the importance of men's participation in care duties for achieving gender equality and positive social change. The text discusses the concept of caring masculinities, exploring the impact of gender policies, the role of men in care professions, and the expectations of organizations regarding men's caregiving. It acknowledges that not all men who engage in care work necessarily hold gender-equality norms and calls for further research on men's caregiving practices and policy changes to promote gender equality in care work. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Revista Estudos Feministas is the property of Revista Estudos Feministas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we draw upon a study exploring how COVID-19 and social isolation impacted young people's (aged 13–18) experiences of online sexual and gendered risks and harms in England during nationwide lockdowns and upon their return to school. We explore the complexities, tensions and ambiguities in youth navigating algorithmised feeds on social media apps such as TikTok and content featuring idealised cis-gendered, heterosexualised feminine and masculine embodiment. Young people repeatedly witness hateful and abusive comments that are algorithmically boosted. We argue that this toxic content normalises online hate in the form of body shaming and sexual shaming, developing the concept of the postdigital to analyse the offline, affective, embodied and material dimensions of online harm, harassment and abuse. We also explore young people's direct experiences of receiving harmful comments, including girls' and gender and sexuality-diverse youth's experiences of body and sexual shaming, as well as boys' experiences of fat shaming; which, in many instances, we argue must be classified as forms of image-based abuse. Using our postdigital lens, we argue that the ways heteronormative, cis-gendered masculine and feminine embodiment are policed online shapes behaviour and norms in young people's everyday lives, including in and around school, and that better understanding and support around these issues is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss how young Latinx men living in Australia negotiate, embody, and complicate existing dominant and racialized masculinities. Queer and feminist theories are used to explore how Latinx men negotiate and embody masculinities, sexualities, and being 'other' in a White dominant cultural context. These tensions were explored through semi-structured in-depth interviews and a creative visual method known as sandboxing with twenty-one Latinx men. Sandboxing aims to elicit conversation and allows for the reflection and sharing of a visual and symbolic representation of participants' lives. The findings suggest masculinities are lived and embodied alongside negotiating racialization and sexualities. The fluidity of masculinities surfaces in participants' reflexive engagement with masculinities and the nuances in negotiating and simultaneously reproducing gender binary norms. Participants' careful negotiation in engaging with feminine culture led to developing the concept 'feminine threshold', a theoretical contribution offered in this article, in understanding how Latinx men negotiate masculinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In western countries, men are increasingly using cosmetic surgery. However, despite this trend, there remains a dearth of information on the prevalence, acceptance, and motivations behind men’s use of cosmetic surgery. Furthermore, the potential association between men’s use of cosmetic surgery and in particular male-specific cosmetic surgery procedures such as head hair transplant or penis enlargement and traditional masculinity ideologies (TMI) has not been investigated so far. For this purpose, a cross-sectional anonymous online survey was conducted among 241 self-identifying men aged 18 years or older from the German-speaking part of Europe. Participants responded to questions about cosmetic surgery use and experiences, and completed the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory—Short Form (CMNI-SF) and the Male Role Norms Inventory—Short Form (MRNI-SF) questionnaires to assess conformity with and endorsement of TMI. Of the 241 men investigated, 47 (19.5%) had undergone cosmetic surgery. The most common types of cosmetic surgeries reported were wrinkle treatment, eyelid correction, and head-hair transplant. Penis enlargement procedures were reported by three (6.4%) of the 47 men who had undergone cosmetic surgery. The main reasons for undergoing surgery were to feel better (72.3%) and look better (55.3%), while to increase sexual success (17.0%) and to increase manliness (14.9%) were also reported. Logistic regression models showed that higher conformity to TMI (CMNI-SF) was associated with higher odds of having undergone cosmetic surgery. The results highlight the overall increase in men’s cosmetic surgery use and its specific characteristics. The significant positive association between conformity to TMI and men’s use of cosmetic surgery suggests that men increasingly use cosmetic surgery as a means to assert power, success, dominance, and sexual success.

The objective of this work is to analyze, from a feminist perspective, the formation of the social and subjective gender imaginary of working men in the extractive corporation Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, in the municipality of San José del Progreso, Valles Centrales region, in the state of Oaxaca. Through semi-structured interviews, the findings show that being a man is closely linked to economic provision and protection of the family. Both of these are combined as a mandate that sustains masculine subjectivity and the social imaginary of gender, as well as the assigned identity and social role. Likewise, mining work is associated with the strength and endurance that the male body supposedly harbors in this work environment, whose conditions are adverse. The strength and resistance of men's bodies distinguishes the work they do compared to women, even when the technology used does not demand the work traditionally performed by miners; this assumption prevails even in men who perform administrative tasks and in areas other than where the mineral is extracted. What this idea produces is a reinforcement and hierarchy between genders in current mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of masculinities, and its intersection with psychology, has been a significant area of inquiry in South Africa. This article examines the development of masculinities scholarship in South Africa by analysing articles published in the South African Journal of Psychology between 1994 and 2024. Of the 165 gender-related articles published in the South African Journal of Psychology during this time, 66 specifically focused on men and masculinities. Utilizing Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, these articles were examined to identify three prominent discourses: (1) gender, sexuality, and violence; (2) health and wellness; and (3) fatherhood. The findings of the analysis reveal a discernible shift in the discourses surrounding masculinities over the last three decades. Specifically, there is a movement away from essentialist constructions of masculinity, towards more positive and egalitarian perspectives of masculinities that are non-hegemonic, non-violent, and non-risktaking. The study's findings have significant implications for future research on masculinities in South Africa, particularly in the areas of decolonial African-centred masculinities studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PRELUDE: Violence. Dead crabs by the many thousands on the beach. Dead fish too. Ponds full of tires. Bubbles surfacing from broken gas pipes somewhere at the bottom of the river. The wind sweeping through the wreckage of an abandoned steelworks providing an incessant hum that echoes across this coastal 'wasteland' of the Anthropocene. Someone fishing sits huddled on a concrete jetty. A surfer, shivering, hurriedly pulls and tugs on a neoprene wetsuit as they dance on the snow. His mates wait for him. A beachcomber hunts for washed up mining tools to turn into art. Relationships with nature—this post-industrial 'wasteland' is nature too—in this place may make you feel better. They may not, also. This is polluted leisure in the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What post-migration practices of success at the labor market do migrants employ on their way to attaining senior professional positions? This paper offers new insights to the study of migration by focusing on success and masculinity among Ethiopian men, a marginalized group in the Israeli labor market. Using findings from 27 semi-structured interviews and six semi-structured interviews with experts or professionals, we investigate the relationships between career success, gender, and migration through a transnational perspective. Migrant success continues to be assessed and viewed primarily through the lenses of the nation-state and integration, in comparison to the native population in general and in the labor market in particular. This paper analyzes the post-migration practices of success described by migrant men who have achieved senior positions in the public sector, with the aim of illuminating the mechanisms and circumstances, as they understand them, that contribute to achieving success. The findings challenge the concept of integration in the context of migrant men's success which defines success as fitting in and mediocrity rather than excellence both on the personal and societal level. Although limited to Ethiopian men who have achieved labor market success, this study provides an opportunity to demonstrate the value of examining migrant men's success from the perspective of cultural capital and views migration masculinity as a dynamic concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss how young Latinx men living in Australia negotiate, embody, and complicate existing dominant and racialized masculinities. Queer and feminist theories are used to explore how Latinx men negotiate and embody masculinities, sexualities, and being ‘other’ in a White dominant cultural context. These tensions were explored through semi-structured in-depth interviews and a creative visual method known as sandboxing with twenty-one Latinx men. Sandboxing aims to elicit conversation and allows for the reflection and sharing of a visual and symbolic representation of participants’ lives. The findings suggest masculinities are lived and embodied alongside negotiating racialization and sexualities. The fluidity of masculinities surfaces in participants’ reflexive engagement with masculinities and the nuances in negotiating and simultaneously reproducing gender binary norms. Participants’ careful negotiation in engaging with feminine culture led to developing the concept ‘feminine threshold’, a theoretical contribution offered in this article, in understanding how Latinx men negotiate masculinities.

In this paper, we draw upon a study exploring how COVID-19 and social isolation impacted young people’s (aged 13–18) experiences of online sexual and gendered risks and harms in England during nationwide lockdowns and upon their return to school. We explore the complexities, tensions and ambiguities in youth navigating algorithmised feeds on social media apps such as TikTok and content featuring idealised cis-gendered, heterosexualised feminine and masculine embodiment. Young people repeatedly witness hateful and abusive comments that are algorithmically boosted. We argue that this toxic content normalises online hate in the form of body shaming and sexual shaming, developing the concept of the postdigital to analyse the offline, affective, embodied and material dimensions of online harm, harassment and abuse. We also explore young people’s direct experiences of receiving harmful comments, including girls’ and gender and sexuality-diverse youth’s experiences of body and sexual shaming, as well as boys’ experiences of fat shaming; which, in many instances, we argue must be classified as forms of image-based abuse. Using our postdigital lens, we argue that the ways heteronormative, cis-gendered masculine and feminine embodiment are policed online shapes behaviour and norms in young people’s everyday lives, including in and around school, and that better understanding and support around these issues is urgently needed.

Although Italian castrati did not feature prominently in the French Enlightenment, they nonetheless became a subject of scientific discussion in the kingdom insofar as they embodied a Western eunuchism. Used to explore the ethical limits of surgical procedures, musical castration was included in a number of treatises, both developed and more anecdotal, and raised a host of questions relating to bodily norms, gender identity, reproductive capacity and sexuality. This article sets out to investigate the way in which the physical and moral portrayal of castrati developed by French physicians and naturalists during the Enlightenment was part of the effort to construct and medically define sex, with a particular focus on setting standards for the masculine. In the second half of the 18th century in particular, the figure of the castrato served as a means of setting out the physical and moral characteristics of a hegemonic masculinity 'à la Française' and, consequently, the contours of a subordinate masculinity (Italian, southern, oriental) of which the singers would be the embodiment.

Abstract Background Crisis telephone helplines are an integral part of community suicide prevention. Despite high male suicide rates, men’s experiences of these services are poorly understood. The current study explored men’s perspectives of their interactions with helpline counsellors to understand how their engagement on helplines can be enhanced. Method Sixteen men (19–71 years) who had previously used a mental health or crisis helpline in Australia completed individual semi-structured interviews about their experiences. Data were analysed using interpretive descriptive methodologies. Results Two themes derived from the data related to how men engaged with counsellors on helpline services. First, men emphasized the importance of helpline counsellors creating and maintaining an authentic connection across the call, providing suggestions for strategies to secure connection. Second, men discussed how counsellors can facilitate outcomes through offering space for their narratives and aiding in referrals to other support services when required. Conclusions Findings highlight the value of crisis helplines for men’s suicide prevention services while identifying target areas to improve engagement. We discuss implications for the findings including suggestions for gender-sensitive care within crisis helplines.

The article discusses the communicative and functional intentionality of femininity and masculinity in terms of grammar and semantics. The research aims to analyze the communicative and functional orientation of femininity and masculinity, examining their relationship and/ or lack of correlation with feminine and masculine forms, and their manifestations in discursive practices. The article proposes distinguishing trends in contemporary feminization by diagnosing traditional- normative and gender-sensitive approaches to naming female individuals based on social status, profession, and title. Additionally, it seeks to determine the key factors driving public demand for the use of derived feminine forms. By comparing the functioning of feminine forms in the German language, the article identifies the main psychological, social, pragmatic, cognitive (including cognitive-behavioral and cultural-historical) factors that burden the national memory with noun forms for the nomination of female individuals in the modern Ukrainian language.

This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project examining the dating narratives of single migrant men residing in Sweden and Italy. The study, analyzing 48 interviews with individuals from Syrian, Polish, Bangladeshi and Romanian backgrounds, along with ethnographic observations, employs a theoretical framework rooted in sexual capital theory and critical studies on men and masculinities. The analysis sheds light on the challenges faced by heterosexual single migrant men in their pursuit of intimate partners, attributing these difficulties to lower levels of social, economic and cultural capital, as well as the influence of their specific masculinities, which may be perceived as less attractive within the host societies. The paper argues that the migrant experience can be viewed as a distinctive sexual field wherein individuals encounter unique dynamics and obstacles in the realm of intimate relationships. The implications of these findings extend beyond the personal experiences of migrant men, offering insights into the broader socio-cultural landscape of host societies and the complex interplay between migration, masculinity and intimate relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to provide an analysis based on the practical experience of social intervention in violence prevention with migrant minors arriving alone in Spain. In order to offer keys and recommendations, and based on situated knowledge, we provide insights on how to approach the intervention framework from a methodological point of view using liminal spaces as border and transition places that need to be named and taken into consideration for a transformative work. Different metaphorical borders, characterized by tension and potential change, are analyzed from a gender and intersectional perspective. We discuss the Law-border and the tension between protection they receive as minors and exclusion/politics of suspicion they receive as migrants. The Age-border (children/men) is discussed taking into account the different gender regimes they cross. The Color-border: here issues of racism and colonialism are considered. Finally, we discuss the Masculinity-border and the tension between reception and the reproduction of violence. We use the concept of liminal masculinities as a specific state or form that subordinate or marginalized masculinity adopts in migrant minors, suspended legally, functionally, and biographically, among others borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how a digital platform constructs rural influencer’s manhood in China. While research on China’s Wanghong industry has primarily focused on urban, heterosexual female influencers, the practices of male digital labor in rural areas remain understudies. This research fills this gap by exploring the self-representations of 38 rural male digital influencers, categorizing their posts into six distinct themes: idle, skillful, positive, dramatic, nostalgic, and quasi-queer performances. This research probes how these rural influencers deploy signs of lower-class status on Kuaishou to engage viewers, foster community, and boost visibility while simultaneously reinforcing their marginalized positions within societal hierarchies. The findings, informed by Connell’s theories of masculinity, reveal a gradual transformation from a marginalized to a complicit manhood as these influencers achieve success, which further reinforces social stratification. Despite their increased visibility, the influencers remain constrained by platform dynamics and limited upward mobility, leading to the emergence of protest masculinities as a response to their entrenched social status. This research contributes to the understanding of the intersection between gender and class on digital platforms and its implications for the construction of masculinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper explores the intricate interplay between young fatherhood, masculinities, and structural factors in South Africa. The country grapples with a complex web of social, economic, and cultural dynamics that shape the experiences of young men's transition into fatherhood. Methods: This qualitative study used snowball and purposive sampling techniques. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 24 young biological fathers aged between 18 and 24 years in an informal settlement in Durban (12) and a rural community in Pietermaritzburg (12), KwaZulu-Natal. Four focusgroup discussions, in groups of four participants, were conducted with 16 of the participants who took part in the in-depth interviews. Data were analysed thematically on the local constructions of young fatherhood and masculinities and how both were associated with structural factors. Results and discussion: Young fatherhood in South Africa is associated with a number of structural vulnerabilities, such as living in communities with high alcohol and drug abuse, low educational attainment, inadequate access to healthcare, unemployment, poverty, and crime. These structural vulnerabilities, deeply entrenched in the country's history and socioeconomic fabric, together with prevailing notions of masculinities, often rooted in hegemonic ideals of dominance and control, intersect with societal expectations of fatherhood, thereby shaping young men's identities, roles, and responsibilities as fathers. Conclusion: The findings suggest young men's involvement during the transition to fatherhood appears multi-determined. To effectively support young fathers and promote family well-being, it is imperative to address the root causes of structural inequalities, challenge rigid norms of masculinities, and foster inclusive policies and programmes that empower young men to embrace their roles as caregivers and agents of change within their families and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper narrates an induction process about how adolescents and young men are drawn into living and practising a distinctive and often violent cultural form of street masculinity on an inner-city estate in London. The paper sets out to counteract dominant discourses which often portray young black men from working-class and impoverished backgrounds as ‘hypermasculine perpetrators of violence’. Developing the concepts of caring and personalized masculinities shows that, in the right conditions, young men exercise agency to perform different masculinities in different contexts and times, fashion more inclusive identities, and create new trajectories and lifestyles. The ethnographic fieldwork took place over nine months in 2019. It involved around 50 young men who were Black, Asian and minority ethnic. The paper focuses on two particular young men, aged 19 and 22, who appear as exemplars of ways of enacting different patterns of masculinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years Incel1 has become a regularly cited example of extreme contemporary misogyny and antifeminism. This paper develops existing understandings of the phenomenon and contextualises Incel as in important ways the product of a painful embrace of neoliberal ideas about market outcomes and social value, expressed through the practices and rhetoric associated with gender relations in this era, with an emphasis on its gendered metapolitical constitution and vision. This is achieved in two steps. Based on a close thematic analysis of textual data collected from the main hub of Incel discourse, other Incel texts, and elements of digital ethnography, I first draw attention to the Incel worldview's interpretation of the neoliberal era as uniformly pro-feminist and note how in doing so collapses the distinction between women, feminists, and elite power. Second, I highlight how this interpretation informs the self-ascription of transgressive and emancipatory qualities, which serve as additional animating logics in Incel hatred of feminism, feminists, and women. I conclude by suggesting that this approach allows for a more productive understanding of the Incel phenomenon and the role of antifeminism and misogyny within it, which includes complicating Incel's purported parallels with the far-right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among men, gender and views about violence contribute to how men, and others, identify and respond to violence and related outcomes. Despite this, little is known about men's perspectives regarding gender/masculinities and cumulative lifetime violence (CLV) exposure. Using the qualitative method of Interpretative description, the complex relationship between gender and violence for men who have experienced CLV was explored. Interviews with thirty-two men who experienced CLV revealed a complex interrelation between masculinity and violence (MV interconnectedness). This intricate connection is difficult to separate due to persistent normalization and acceptance of violence. Because violence is one way that men live up to pressure to 'be a man,' MV interconnectedness positively contributes to men's sense of self. However, MV interconnectedness also contributes to significant harm. The contradictory nature of MV interconnectedness and the tension that arises when men contemplate the link between gender and violence was labelled 'the paradox'. As men grapple with the paradox, and the ways that gender and violence have influenced their lives, they are able to move toward disconnecting violence from how they define themselves as men. The paradox is a significant addition to the understanding of how men may reject the narrative that masculinity and violence are interconnected. MV Interconnectedness demonstrates that the link between masculinity and violence perpetration is not straightforward. Normalization and acceptance of violence calls for efforts to counteract the messages and pressures boys and men receive that influence their behaviour. Plain language summary: Understanding masculinity and violence interconnectedness among men with cumulative lifetime violence histories Among men, gender and views about violence contribute to how men, and others, identify and respond to violence and related outcomes. Despite this, little is known about men's perspectives regarding gender/masculinities and cumulative lifetime violence (CLV) exposure. Using Interpretive Description analysis of qualitative interviews with men, we explored the complex relationship between gender and violence for men who have experienced CLV. This revealed a complex interrelationship between masculinity and violence (MV interconnectedness). This intricate connection is difficult to separate due to persistent normalization and acceptance of violence. Because violence is one way that men live up to pressure to "be a man," MV interconnectedness positively contributes to men's sense of self. However, MV interconnectedness also contributes to significant harm. The contradictory nature of MV interconnectedness and the tension that arises when men contemplate the link between gender and violence was labelled "the paradox." As men grapple with the paradox, and the ways that gender and violence have influenced their lives, they are able to move toward disconnecting violence from how they define themselves as men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars in critical masculinities studies argue that we need men involved and engaged in gender equity movements for gender justice to be realised. Yet we need to know more about how different groups of men are understanding gender equity and what the barriers might be. Amidst significant media interest in elite private boys' schooling and its possible (re)production of sexist cultures, this paper explores how 13 men who attended such schools in Australia between the 1970s and the 2000s understand gender justice, revealing a diversity of positions and practices across the different generational groups. We argue the men's engagements with gender justice are shaped by a broad 'curriculum of privilege' including school and non-school based experiences that mediates their lives. Further research with both elite boys' schools and their alumni is needed to better understand generational change in their engagements with gender justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores men's experiences of and management strategies for urinary incontinence (UI) following treatment for prostate cancer. Qualitative interviews with 29 men, recruited from two prostate cancer support groups, explored their post-treatment experiences. Drawing on a conceptual toolkit connecting theories of masculinities, embodiment, and chronic illness, this paper identifies older men's experiences and strategies for managing UI and explores how these are shaped by their masculinities. This article identifies interdependence between managing stigma for UI and maintaining masculinity. Men's embodied practices for engaging in activities in public, crucial to masculine identity, were disrupted. In response, they adopted new reflexive body techniques to manage and resolve their UI, and thereby address the threat to their masculine identities, characterised in three strategies: monitoring, planning, and disciplining. The new embodied practices men described suggest three factors as important components for adopting new reflexive body techniques: routine, desire, and unruliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article suggests the necessity of redesigning public policies aimed at women in Cali. This should be done by considering the reconfiguration of the public problem based on public policy tools in the sociocultural dimension. Additionally, initiatives should be articulated in non-hegemonic masculinities. The research conducted was exploratory-descriptive and included interviews, focus groups, and surveys ofmen's organizations and the sub-secretariat of gender equity. The key findings are based on the gap in studies regarding policy implementation and evidence of design flaws. The policy was designed using the Bottom Up model, with participation as a fundamental element. It is evident that women's values and their pursuit of equality are in conflict with the structure of the public policy. Additionally, the paradigm of new public governance suggests that policy implementation should be adjusted to its structure and formulation, particularly in its design, as a fundamental aspect. As a contribution, we propose a model for the formulation of public policy that reduces implementation risks and enables evaluation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Psicoperspectivas is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Escuela de Psicologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article provides findings from our dual-computational/qualitative analysis of r/Stoicism, a large subreddit in which self-presenting boys and men seek Stoic philosophical advice on various life matters. In choosing to investigate this decidedly (hetero)masculinized online space in which users share their anxieties and grievances, we expected to find substantial evidence of "toxic" manosphere-style discourse, while also hoping to uncover counter patterns which, like Maloney et al.'s study of 4chan, complicate assumptions around the discursive practices of boys and men in online spaces such as these. Rather, what we found was a complete absence of toxic discourse, and instead the presence of patterns which complicate the logics underpinning efforts at deradicalization and wider socio-positive masculinity agendas. Thorburn's work has been important in foregrounding how the "neoliberal emphasis on individualism and a capitalist 'hustle-culture'" underpin manosphere logics. Here, we see similar, albeit more palatable (to mainstream sensibilities), neoliberal tenets at work across counter logics, and reflect on why economic-structural explanations for boys' and men's anxieties are sidelined in such mainstream responses to the manosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has seen unprecedented changes in working forms, not the least through technological innovation while leisure time is equally reshaped by platforms. Although relatively new, the gig economy – temporary work mediated through platforms – is increasingly an important form of employment globally and consequently, the gig economy is represented in popular culture. Popular culture is part of social-technical-spatial relations making these important spaces in digital geographies. However, digital content, for example from streaming programs, is often not considered in labour geography studies. By conducting ethnographic content analysis and doodling ‘think-with’ work on Beforeigners, a piece of speculative fiction from Norway, I explore how storytelling conjoins parallel digital practices. I show storytelling as a kind of softening of ground narrating technological-spatial relations and demonstrates how, from this Nordic example, storytelling is part of the continuative geographical ordering of work forms in digital spaces and places. Exploring other sites of digital spaces highlights the ways digital geography is multi-layered, inter-relational and gradient, and demonstrates the need to go beyond established sites of inquiry to understand the gig economy as a social-technological-spatial relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smartphone technologies and prominent marketing campaigns continue to contribute to the growth of sports betting in contemporary Australia, shifting the practice from pubs and clubs into the domestic and intimate lives of young bettors. This article seeks to build on prior studies of sports betting in the lives of young Australian men by focusing on how gambling shame and stigma is navigated by bettors and their romantic partners. Data collected from 20 interviews with young sports bettors and their intimate partners is used to highlight and contrast how men and women perceive and engage with modern sports betting. Drawing on the work of Elspeth Probyn, we show how shame directed by betting men towards problem gambling behaviours and perceived illegitimate forms of gambling, such as betting alone or betting on racing, helps legitimise men’s own betting practices and position them favourably in masculine betting hierarchies. In contrast to men’s shaming responses, women who have been romantically involved with sports bettors instead show feelings of understanding and indifference towards the practice, provided their partners bet at a recreational level. These findings illustrate the ways young Australian gamblers use ‘betting shame’ to navigate and justify their engagement with a rapidly transforming, stigmatised leisure practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]